Things Have Changed
by TeamHPForever
Summary: Everything is going wonderful for Ashleigh. Wonder has foaled her most promising foal yet, Princess is recovering well and she's riding some great racehorses. Then everything changes when Mike breaks up with her and it's Brad that's there for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Just a quick note before we start. This is my first Thoroughbreds fanfic! I do not own any part of the Thoroughbreds Series so PLEASE dont' sue me! In my story Ashleigh's parents own their own farm where Wonder and her foals live.

* * *

Chapter One

Ashleigh stood outside Wonder's stall. The mare was huge with yet another foal this time to one of Kentucky's top stallions.

"How's Wonder doing?" Ashleigh's long-time boyfriend Mike asked walking up.

"She's fine. I think we'd better set up round-the-clock foal watch on her though. I bet she'll foal in the next couple days."

"You would know."

Ashleigh laughed and remembered all the foals she'd watched Wonder have. Each one was a little miracle of its own.

"I need to go visit Princess," she said regretfully. Townsend Princess still lived at Townsend Acres. The vet had given the ok on her so they were now preparing her for training. Ashleigh didn't want to miss a moment of it, but at the same time she dreaded seeing Princess's part-owner Brad Townsend. Ever since Mr. Townsend had left to do business with Europe, Brad had been running his father's racing farm. Ashleigh had been trying to convince Brad to allow Princess to be moved to Ashleigh's parents new farm, but she wasn't having any luck.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No that's okay. You need to stay here and keep an eye on Wonder for me." Ashleigh smiled and gave Mike a quick kiss before she set off out to her old truck.

She thought about all the progress Princess had made over the last couple weeks and was in good spirits when she finally climbed out of her truck at Townsend Acres.

She walked quickly to Princess's stall.

"Hi girl!" she greeted when Princess nickered at her.

"Still treating her like a pet, are we Griffin? When are you going to realize that a racehorse is a racehorse and not a pet?" the taunting voice of Brad Townsend called from around the corner. He walked into the barn looking as smug as ever. His fancy clothes were spotless.

Ashleigh felt a rush of hatred towards him at that moment.

"And when are you going to realize that a racehorse is an animal and not a machine that is supposed to bring home money every day?" I asked him coldly stroking Princess's sleek neck.

Their argument was interrupted when Maddock walked up.

"Hello Ashleigh," he said. "Come to visit Princess?"

"Of course."

"Good, I needed to talk to you. Princess has been doing great with her training and we hope to have a rider on her back in the next week. We were hoping you might like to be that rider."

"I'd be delighted."

"We also have a horse running at Churchill Downs this weekend. You know Drop that Top. Would you mind taking him too?"

"No, I don't have any mounts this weekend."

"Great. Well that's all I needed to talk to you about. I'll let you get on with your visit. Princess won't be worked today by the way." Maddock walked off easily heading off on his busy day.

"Did you hear that, Princess? I'm going to be the first person to ride you!" Ashleigh crooned excitedly, completely ignoring Brad.

"Excuse me, still here you know," Brad interrupted.

"I know. Why don't you just go on and do whatever it is that you do. You must be busy running this place all by yourself."

"Now that you mention it I do have a lot of work to get done today. I'm sure you want to be alone. I'll see you later." He walked arrogantly off.

Ashleigh glared at his back and then turned to Princess when he was out of earshot. She went down to the tack room and grabbed her grooming box. If Princess wasn't going to be worked today then the least she could do was give her a good grooming.

Ashleigh spent an hour with Princess before she finally pulled herself away. She climbed into her truck and set off down the road. She was only a mile down the road when her cell phone rang. She dug it out of her purse and checked the caller I.D. It was Mike.

"Hello?"

"Ashleigh, Wonder's foaling."

* * *

Sorry the first chapter was so short. Please review!!!!! Reviewing encourages me to write faster when my time is already limited.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_"Ashleigh, Wonder's foaling."_

"Don't worry everything's fine and the vet's here. You might want to hurry home though."

"I'm on my way."

Ashleigh drove as fast as she could safely. She was desperate to make it home to see Wonder and kicking herself at the same time for going to see Princess that day. Why did she have to go on her usual visit right before Wonder foaled? She knew that she would be foaling soon.

She slammed on the brakes in the driveway and jumped out of her truck. She ran inside the barn and skidded to a halt in front of Wonder's stall. The mare was already up with a little black foal by her side. It was a colt.

"Wonder's first black foal," Ashleigh whispered as she gazed lovingly at the little miracle standing in front of her.

"He's healthy," the vet cut in watching the little colt with a satisfied expression. "And if I do say so myself, this one's going to be a winner, just like his dam."

"Thank you," Ashleigh said turning away from the little foal to give the vet a thankful smile.

"My pleasure, Ms. Griffen. You know my number if you have any problems. I don't think you will with this one," the vet shook everyone's hands before he headed out to his truck.

Ashleigh slipped into the stall. The foal didn't show any signs of fear and Wonder nickered in greeting of her friend.

"Hi Wonder. Congratulations, girl," Ashleigh whispered greeting the mare with a hand on her muzzle. The foal peeked around his mother's side with wide, curious eyes. "Hi, baby." Ashleigh extended her hand out to the little foal. He stretched his neck forward and sniffed curiously.

"What are you going to name him?" Mike asked from outside the stall.

"It'll come to me," Ashleigh answered, lightly running her hands all over the little colt's body. "How about Wonder's Prodigy?"

"Perfect," Mike agreed. "I'll send the registration papers out tomorrow."

"Great. Have someone call Brad for me and let him know, will you? He's going to be mad if he doesn't find out."

"No need to call. I'm here," Brad's cold voice accompanied him as he appeared in front of the stall. "Your father called me to let me know that Wonder was foaling, Ashleigh." He completely ignored Mike. "This looks like a nice foal. I'm sure he'll make a brilliant addition to Townsend Acres."

"No," Ashleigh's voice shook with anger and fear as she stood up and slipped out of the stall so she wouldn't scare the now sleeping foal. "I will not let any of Wonder's foals set foot on your property after what happened to Princess. Besides, you got Wonder's Pride for his first five seasons at stud. Isn't he enough?"

"I have one horse that still needs to heal. I don't have any promising foals in my crop this season and you expect me to let the most promising foal that I've seen in a couple years slip through my grasp?"

"He's not. He's just going to live here and by trained by people who really care about his well-being, rather than how much money he's going to make." Ashleigh was really starting to get angry now. If she didn't keep her temper in check she might do something she'd regret later.

"At Townsend Acres, he'll have the best care in the country. The best grooms, the best trainer and the best…riders."

Ashleigh nearly broke when she caught the meaning in his last comment. "Are you implying that I am not a good rider?" she demanded.

"Alright, break it up you two. You're making Wonder worried…" Mike finally tried to break up the fight, but Ashleigh held up her hand to interrupt him and glanced at a completely unbothered Wonder.

"No, Maddock thinks very highly of you. I'm just implying that you are not the best."

Ashleigh clenched her hands into fists as she resisted the strong urge to give Brad a black eye. "Prodigy stays here," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"For now," Brad consented with a smirk. There was still plenty of time before the foal was ready to be trained anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, but I'm finally back to updating and I know where this story is going! Do not own Thoroughbreds....though i wish I did. Wish I owned a real Thoroughbred too...**

* * *

Chapter Three

_"For now," Brad consented with a smirk. There was still plenty of time before the foal was ready to be trained anyway. _

The next half hour was very tense, but finally Brad left to return to Townsend Acres and Ashleigh continued working with Prodigy. He was already an active colt and she delighted in his promise. Mike hung out with Ashleigh and Prodigy for a while before finally excusing himself, saying he really needed to get some office work down.

Ashleigh left Prodigy and Wonder when the young colt stretched out on the ground for a nap and Wonder laid down a short distance away to sleep. Standing outside the stall, Ashleigh stretched her stiff muscles and set off greeting the other horses in the barn.

She was cleaning stalls when Mike came out of the office and found her.

"Hey Ashleigh," he said, smiling at his girlfriend. "You look great."

Ashleigh glanced down at her dust and straw covered clothes with a wince.

"Really, it looks good on you. Why don't we go out to dinner tonight? In celebration of Wonder's new colt."

"Prodigy."

"Right, in celebration of Wonder's new champion, Prodigy." Ashleigh didn't like the way he said 'champion' or 'new colt'. It made Prodigy sound like a shiny object that had arrived in the mail.

"Sure, but I need a shower first."

"Alright, 6 then? Is two hours enough time?"

"Sure, I'll just finish up here."

"Why don't you let the stable hands do that?"

"I like cleaning stalls," Ashleigh defended, finishing up the stall and putting the pitchfork safely away in the tack room. She ran up to the house for a quick shower, did her hair and was waiting outside the house just a few minutes after six.

She waited, glancing down at her watch every few minutes. It was almost 7 by the time Mike came out of the barn.

"Ready to go?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes," Ashleigh answered shortly, deciding not to mention the fact that she had been waiting for almost a hour.

"Alright, let's get going then," Mike said, turning back into his old gentlemanly self as he held the door open for her before hopping into the driver's seat.

"So where are we going?" Ashleigh asked as the old truck trundled down the gravel driveway.

"I thought we would stop by this party and then maybe go to DQ for dessert."

"I thought we were going out for dinner in celebration of Prodigy."

"I'm sorry, Ashleigh, but I realized that we've both been invited to this big party. A lot of the big shot owners, trainers and jockeys are going to be there. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

Ashleigh remained silent through the truck ride. _What happened to Mike? Since when did he get into going to all the big racing parties? What's he going to do next? Take me to one of the big Townsend dinners?_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Been so busy lately. I don't own the Thoroughbreds series or any of the characters. I'd like to own a real racehorse someday though. :) **

* * *

Chapter Four

_Ashleigh remained silent through the truck ride. What happened to Mike? Since when did he get into going to all the big racing parties? What's he going to do next? Take me to one of the big Townsend dinners?_

"So, we got invited to the Townsends' for a party this weekend," Mike said. Ashleigh tried to gather her thoughts to form a reply. She'd been staring out the window, wondering what was up with Mike's strange desire to attend these big dinners. They were little more than the big-shots discussing horses. And while horses were Ashleigh's favorite subject, she'd rather be riding them than talking about them.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said the Townsends are throwing a party this weekend and we're invited."

"And?"

"And we're going."

"But Mike! I need to work with the horses this weekend! Prodigy was just born and I need to visit Princess…"

"You can do that another time. You can work with Wonder's colt Friday and visit Princess Sunday."

Ashleigh stared at her boyfriend in amazement. "When did you become so eager to go to those parties? You used to be on my side. You always helped me come up with an excuse when I ran out."

"I just think it's important for you and I to get acquainted with Wonder's half-owners."

Ashleigh turned back to the dark landscape that surrounded their truck. _I miss the old Mike. The one that helped me think up wild plots to crash the Townsend parties. The one that always talked me out of them when we were done. What happened to that Mike?_ "When are we going to stop at DQ?"

"Sorry Ashleigh. We don't have time tonight."

_I never thought I would hear Mike say there was no time for DQ. That's like me saying there isn't time for horses. _

That Mike (or, as she had come to think of him in her head, _her_ Mike) never returned. It was probably ranked one of the top ten worst weeks of her life. Mike was rarely around the farm anymore. When he wasn't away on his secret errands, he was in the office. Not once did he take Ashleigh out to dinner, or to the movies, or even invite her to eat dinner with him, and she just followed his lead. If he didn't want to spend time with her and show me that somewhere deep inside he was still her Mike, than who was she to argue?

By the time Saturday rolled around and Ashleigh was dressed in a lavender gown that stretched almost to floor, she was really missing her Mike. Her Mike wouldn't have forced her to wear a dress and matching lavender heels. He wouldn't have asked her to curl her hair and spend an hour in the bathroom doing her make-up. He certainly wouldn't have ordered a limo to take her to the party. But this Mike did all of those thigns. And it disturbed her far more than she allowed him to see.


End file.
